Method and apparatus for guaranteeing quality of service between a public network and a non- public network

Abstract

An application function (AF) in a first network and a method for providing a service by the AF via a second network including: requesting quality of service (QoS) related information to a network exposure function (NEF) of a second network different from the first network in which the AF is located, wherein the QoS related information is used to guarantee the QoS of a service to be provided to a terminal; and receiving the QoS related information from the NEF of the second network are provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An application function (AF) in a first network, the AF comprising a processor, a memory, and a communication device, wherein the processor executes a program stored in the memory to perform:
 requesting quality of service (QOS) related information to a network exposure function (NEF) of a second network different from the first network in which the AF is located by invoking a service operation for a network exposure service to the NEF, wherein the QoS related information includes QoS sustainabilities and is used to guarantee the QoS of a service to be provided to a terminal; and 
 receiving the QoS related information from the NEF of the second network, 
 wherein the requesting comprises inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements required for network-initiated QoS modification of the second network, wherein the QoS requirements include a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) and QoS characteristics, 
 wherein the QoS related information is determined, based on a service level agreement (SLA) between the first network and the second network, using the 5QI and the QoS characteristics, 
 wherein the first network comprises a network that provides a service required by the terminal and the second network comprises a network to which the terminal is directly connected, 
 wherein the terminal establishes protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with the first network based on non-3GPP access and PDU sessions with the second network based on 3GPP access, 
 wherein one of the first network and the second network comprises a public land mobile network (PLMN), and another comprises a stand-alone non-public network (SNPN), 
 wherein when the processor performs the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation, the processor performs obtaining the location information of the terminal by invoking a service operation for a location-related service for the terminal to the NEF of the second network. 
 
     
     
       2. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the QoS sustainabilities are provided by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) in the second network. 
 
     
     
       3. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein when the processor performs the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation, the processor performs 
 obtaining the location information of the terminal from the second network based on the SLA. 
 
     
     
       4. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein when the processor performs the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation, the processor performs 
 obtaining the location information of the terminal from a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) or a location management function (LMF) of the second network. 
 
     
     
       5. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein when the processor performs the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation, the processor performs 
 obtaining the location information of the terminal from the terminal through an application layer. 
 
     
     
       6. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein when the processor performs the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation, the processor performs 
 inputting a QoS characteristics for a QoS to be required by the AF as the QoS requirements subject to a service level agreement (SLA) between the first network and the second network. 
 
     
     
       7. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein when the processor performs the requesting of the QoS related information, the processor performs 
 requesting the QoS related information by sending a message requesting QoS information related to a session of the AF to the NEF, 
 wherein the QoS related information includes QoS monitoring information received from a session management function (SMF) or user plane function (UPF) in the second network. 
 
     
     
       8. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first network is connected to the terminal with non-3GPP access, the second network is connected to the terminal with 3GPP access, and the AF provides the service to the terminal via the second network. 
 
     
     
       9. A method for providing a service to a terminal by an application function (AF) in a first network via a second network, the method comprising:
 requesting quality of service (QOS) related information to a network exposure function (NEF) of the second network by invoking a service operation for a network exposure service to the NEF, wherein the QoS related information includes QoS sustainabilities and is used to guarantee the QoS of the service; and 
 receiving the QoS related information from the NEF of the second network, 
 wherein the invoking comprises inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements required for network-initiated QoS modification of the second network, wherein the QoS requirements include a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) and QoS characteristics, 
 wherein the QoS related information is determined, based on a service level agreement (SLA) between the first network and the second network, using the 5QI and the QoS characteristics, 
 wherein the first network is connected to the terminal with logical non-3GPP access and the second network is connected to the terminal with 3GPP access, 
 wherein the first network comprises a network that provides a service required by the terminal and the second network comprises a network to which the terminal is directly connected, 
 wherein the terminal establishes PDU sessions with the first network based on non-3GPP access and PDU sessions with the second network based on 3GPP access, 
 wherein one of the first network and the second network comprises a PLMN, and another comprises a SNPN, and 
 wherein 
 the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation comprises obtaining the location information of the terminal by invoking a service operation for a location-related service for the terminal to the NEF of the second network. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the QoS sustainabilities are provided by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) in the second network. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein
 the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation comprises 
 obtaining the location information of the terminal from the second network based on the SLA. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9 , wherein
 the inputting location information of the terminal and QoS requirements when invoking the service operation comprises 
 obtaining the location information of the terminal from a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) or a location management function (LMF) of the first network. 
 
     
     
       13. The AF of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first network comprises an overlay network, and 
 wherein the second network comprises an underlay network.